Box turtle develops swelling on his head

WHIDBEY I SLAND,WASH.— T here were no accommodations made for the disabled on Noah’s ark. The wheel was relatively new at the time.

But today, mobility problems can be solved by pet conveyances like those made by K9 Carts in Free- land on Whidbey Island.

The company outfits dogs and cats, but also has made carts for a ferret, a hedgehog, sheep, goats, hamsters and guinea pigs. A Bernese mountain dog that lives in snow country got skis.

A miniature horse in Maine likely will get wheels.

They’ve even made carts for chickens and turkeys. Two-legged pets are fitted with a four-wheel appara- tus and the bird sits in a sling between the wheels, using one good leg for propulsion.

Barbara Parkes, the cart- maker owner, says, “every- thing is a challenge.”

A kangaroo in Australia wasg oing to get a cart but died before that could hap- pen.

Sadie, a 10-year-old black lab with severe arthritis and virtually no use of her rear legs, now has her own chariot with 12-inch pneumatic tires.

She’s gone from a taildragger to romper room.

Suzanne a nd D ennis Reynolds brought Sadie to K9 Carts.

After a few adjustments for height and front-to-back balance, she was ready to scoot.

He rreartoe s bare ly t ouch the pavem ent,andprovide a bit of propulsion. Strong front legs giveher the mobility she lost.

The Reynoldses had been using a sling to support her for walks and help her get about.

Some dogs never adapt, a very small percentage. But Sadie took to her wheels immediately. She loves to run.

The Reynolds say they recently took her to the Oregon Coast and “with the cart she has been off and running.”

Now, a leash will have to keep her in check.

Brandon has been taking care of Herbie for seven years. Herbie, a box turtle, was a lost soul that Brandon found walking in the street whenhewas11yea rs old and has been part o fBra ndon’s lif eeversince. He lives outdoors in the spring, summer and early fall and spends the winters indoors in a heated terrarium.

Herbie has had no health issues while in Brandon’s care until he recen tlyb egan to develop aswelling or mass on the left side of his head. Brandon noticed Herbie not eating with his normal amount of enthusiasm, especially when it came to snails, Herbie’s favori tefood.

For all his seven years with Brandon, the sight of a snail would bring Herbie sprinting for the food dish; of course, sprinting for a box turtle is a relative term.

This decrease in glee over snails became more evident overafewwe eks until Brandon finally noticed the swelling.

It is likely not possible to definitively determine the cause of Herbie’s swelling simply by looki ng.Itmaybe a swelling filled with liquid such as a cyst or it could be a solid mass lesion. In order to figure out how to help Herbie, we need to know what we are dealing with.

The first step would be a simple test called a fine needle aspirate — a needle attached to a syringe is intro- duced into the lesion to aspir ateouts ome of the material inside. The material would be looked at under a micro- scope.

It is important to distinguish this procedure from a needle biopsy. A needle biopsy involves actual tissue removal from a lesion with a somewhat larger nee- dle. This harvested tissue is then sent to a pathologist for processing and microscopic exa mination.Thisisamore in-depth test and is also better at identifying a mass.

InHerbie’scase,Iamconfident tha tasi mplefine needle aspirate will give us the necessary information.

Having dealt with many box tur tles over the past three decades as a veterinarian ,Ia m going to venture an educated guess that Herbie’s lesion is an abscess in his left ea rc anal. These ar ef airly common in some species of turtles, box turtles especially, and are usually caused by an infection that starts in the mouth or throat and goes up the Eustachian tube into the middle ear.

People have this tube too; it’s the one we try to open up when we fly on a na irplane to equalize the pressure across the eardrum.

When a bacterial infection sets up shop via this Eustachian tube i nto the middle ear in a turtle, the infection elicits a reaction from the body which causes pus to form. This develops into an abscess, caus ing the swelling Brandon has reported in Herbie’s neck.

Reptile pus is very casseous or thick and somewhat chunky, so it cannot be effectively drained with a needle. Instead, Herbie will need an anesthetic proceduretoallowsurgicallancing and clea ningoutofhis abscess.

Along with appropriate antibiotic therapy and continued cleaning at home, Herbie’s condition should be entirely curable and return him to his snail-loving self.